PCB head Ashraf suspended by Pak court over 'dubious and polluted' election

Sydney, May 29 (ANI): A Pakistani court has ordered the suspension of Mohammad Zaka Ashraf, the head of the Pakistan Cricket board (PCB), as it believed that the process to elect Ashraf was 'dubious and polluted'.

Ashraf recently became the first elected chairman of the PCB under a new constitution demanded by the sport's world governing body, International Cricket Council (ICC), to reduce political interference, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

However, the Islamabad High Court ordered Ashraf to halt work as chairman following a petition filed by a former player and coach of the army side, Ahmed Nadeem Sadal, saying that Sadal has a good arguable case in his favour as the entire process of the election of the PCB chairman appears to be motivated and polluted.

The ruling suspended Ashraf until the next court hearing scheduled on June 13, saying that allowing Ashraf to continue would damage the PCB as a result of 'dubious and non-transparent election'.

Stating that he had brought the challenge as a matter of principle, Sadal demanded fresh elections for the chairman and said that the elections were not announced and were held secretly and undemocratically.

However, PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said that although the board would abide by the ruling but claimed the court had not been presented with the full case, adding that after the complete presentation of the facts, the board would follow any decision of the court in letter and spirit.

According to the report, he nomination of Ashraf by President Asif Ali Zardari, the board's patron, has been widely criticised by former players and officials because it was seen as politically motivated, with the cricket head coming from the same party as the president.

Former captain Rashid Latif has also challenged Ashraf's appointment in another court and a hearing will be held on Wednesday, the report added. (ANI)